362 people to be notified of removal from Oxnard gang injunctions, police say

More than a decade after Ventura County authorities linked a slew of violent incidents to Oxnard’s largest street gang to make a case for a civil restraining order against the group, it’s unclear whether the injunction has been effective.
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Oxnard Police Chief Scott Whitney addresses the city's community relations commission during an August meeting about the future of gang injunctions in the city.(Photo: MEGAN DISKIN/THE STAR)Buy Photo

Editor's note: This story has been updated to provide examples of how the gang injunctions restrict certain behaviors.

Oxnard police next year will notify the 362 people served with the city’s two gang injunctions that they are no longer bound by the court order.

The Oxnard Police Department’s decision was presented to the City Council during a regular meeting Tuesday and included a plan that involves prosecutors filing an amended version of the injunctions that will allow authorities to legally enforce them.

Recent court rulings about gang injunctions made the Oxnard Police Department’s top brass change course and even stop enforcing the gang injunctions in November 2017. The rulings stated that the way people were added to the injunctions was unconstitutional because they were not given an opportunity for due process before the injunctions put restrictions on their civil liberties.

Law enforcement agencies across the state have used gang injunctions to deal with public safety issues, with critics opposed to the nature of the orders that they say unfairly target minorities.

Injunctions have been used in Oxnard since the early 2000s against the city’s two largest street gangs, the Colonia Chiques and the Southside Chiques. They restrict the behaviors of the alleged gang members in certain areas called safety zones. The restrictions include not associating with other gang members, wearing gang clothing such as Dallas Cowboys gear and a curfew barring them from public places from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

In the past, Oxnard police gang injunction practices involved an officer serving a person with a civil court order. They were immediately subject to the terms of that order. Going forward, any person served with one of the two modified injunctions will be given a court hearing to determine whether they should be added to the injunction.

Civil liberty limits

“We recognize that it has limits on civil liberties. We’ve been very careful in how we apply that,” Police Chief Scott Whitney told the City Council. “Many people have actually pushed us to be more aggressive, and we’ve pushed back. The last thing I want or we want is somebody on the injunction that doesn’t belong on the injunction, so we’ve been very judicious.”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Miles Weiss said now a judge will make the call. In the new year, prosecutors will seek to file an amended version of the injunctions that will include information about the judicial hearings. Also in January, letters will go out to those previously on the injunctions notifying them that they have been removed, said Assistant Police Chief Eric Sonstegard.

The Ventura County Public Defender’s Office has been questioning the constitutionality of the Oxnard gang injunctions from the beginning. Senior Deputy Public Defender Michael McMahon said it’s a fight that will continue in this next phase.

“If there is going to be any gang injunction, then the public defender is committed to ensure that any such injunction is constitutional,” McMahon said.

McMahon first fought the injunctions in the early 2000s as a chief deputy public defender. He retired in 2017 but came back to the office on a part-time basis in the spring.

While he has not seen the City Council presentation, he said he’s aware of why Oxnard police are back to the drawing board. In the beginning, the Public Defender’s Office took issue with the method for someone getting on the gang injunction, he said.

Oxnard police worked with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office as these rulings came in, trying to figure out how to proceed. This included sending a letter to the alleged gang members notifying them of their right to due process, but Sonstegard said the court rulings indicated more was required.

Weiss said at least one of the court rulings discussed a “robust administrative review” being a way to remedy the legality issue. Oxnard police presented that option to the City Council in June, but it was met with opposition, so police were directed to seek community input on the issue.

Critics of injunctions

A group called Chiques Organizing for Rights and Equality (CORE) and the Ventura County Public Defender’s Office were among the critics.

Through a series of community meetings and an online poll on Nextdoor, police found the majority of the residents they spoke to wanted the injunctions. But in meeting with CORE and other groups, police found that they were right and the due process hearings should be judicial and not administrative.

The process means the number of people on the injunctions will be considerably smaller, Sonstegard said.

The meetings also led to police deciding to conduct an annual review on the injunctions and clarify the pathways to get off them. Oxnard police also said going forward, their practice will not include adding people to the injunction who don’t have an arrest record.

Members of CORE spoke out against the policy at Tuesday’s meeting but commended the department for the changes it made. They encouraged the City Council to keep looking at the issue and having conversations about it.

“I don’t agree. They don’t agree with me, but we try to do the best we can for the city that we love,” Armando Vazquez, a member of CORE, said.

The mother of a murdered Oxnard man addressed the City Council, speaking in favor of the injunctions because gang violence has directly impacted her life.

Councilwoman Carmen Ramirez had questions about individuals served in the future having access to legal representation through the Public Defender’s Office. Weiss said since it’s a civil proceeding, they are not legally entitled to a public defender.

McMahon said the Public Defender’s Office staff will continue to take an active interest in the gang injunctions. However, their concerns have evolved and include whether the gang injunctions are needed in Oxnard, McMahon said.

Critics who spoke at the City Council meeting had the same question. Councilman Oscar Madrigal said it was difficult to form an opinion because there wasn’t a lot of research about whether injunctions work.

There was a general consensus on the council that gang violence occurs in the city and there’s a need to protect youths especially.

Mayor Tim Flynn, a proponent of the injunctions, said the city needs to invest in a gang intervention program because relying on police to deal with the issue is “unsustainable” and the “senseless murders” have a big impact on the city.

“The fact of the matter is this city’s reputation is constantly besieged by cold-blooded murder,” Flynn said.